Childhood Obesity and Pubertal Development

During the past decades, advancement in pubertal maturation in children has been noticed worldwide. Growing evidence indicates that increasing prevalence of obesity in children is a major factor for the secular trend of earlier puberty. In girls, several epidemiologic studies suggest that earlier pubertal onset and earlier menarche might be caused by obesity. On the other hand, in boys, few research reported an association between obesity and pubertal development, and the results are inconsistent; Some studies found a link between obesity and delayed puberty, but others reported a causal relationship between obesity and early puberty. To date, mechanisms linking childhood obesity and earlier puberty remain unclear. In this review, we presented the potential impact of obesity on puberty-related hormones and summarized human studies on potential relationship of childhood adiposity and pubertal development. (Pediatr Gastroenterol Hepatol Nutr 2012; 15: 151∼159)